2006 NCAA II NORTHEAST REGIONAL #4 Southern Connecticut State Downs #1 Franklin Pierce, 9-3
Farrell stymies Ravens bats again as Owls avoid elimination
RINDGE, N.H. (May 19, 2006) - Fourth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University avoided elimination with a 9-3 victory over top-seeded and 11th-ranked Franklin Pierce in game five of the 2006 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field this afternoon.
Southern Connecticut (34-18) will now face sixth-seeded Dowling College (31-14), who avoided elimination earlier in the day with a 2-1 triumph over second-seeded University of New Haven (35-12), tomorrow at 1 p.m. Franklin Pierce (41-11) will play the loser of tomorrow's first game between third-seeded UMass Lowell (37-12) and fifth-seeded Dominican College (41-16) at 4:30 p.m. The UML/Dominican was scheduled to be played today, but a four-hour rain delay at the outset pushed the games back, forcing it to tomorrow morning.
Southern senior left-hander Jeff Farrell (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) again showed his dominance over Franklin Pierce, improving his career record against the Ravens to 5-0. He allowed three earned runs (all off solo homers), while scattering 11 hits and walking none with nine strikeouts over 8.1 innings.
Junior Jose Ortiz, Jr., (Waterbury, Conn./Crosby) sparked the offense as he finished a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, two RBI and two runs scored. Junior Jim McLaughlin (Medway, Mass./Medway) was 1-4 with a double and three RBI, while sophomore Joe Kahlden (Norwalk, Conn./Fairfield Prep) finished 2-4 with two runs scored. Senior Joe Pagan (Bridgeport, Conn./Central) chipped in a solo homer and junior Sean Morgan (Maynard, Mass./Maynard) was 2-2 with an RBI.
Senior All-American Bryan Duplissie (East Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock Regional) paced Franklin Pierce's 12-hit attack, going 2-for-3 with a double and one of the Ravens three solo homers. Freshman Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) was 2-4 with a home run, while junior Vinny Pennell (Spencer, Mass./David Prouty) hit 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases. Sophomore Matt Anderson (Medford, Mass./Medford) added two hits, while junior All-American Garrett Olson (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) chipped in a homer.
Junior right-hander Daniel Fournier (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name), who fired a no-hitter in his regular season start against SCSU on March 28, suffered the loss (5-3) as he allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks in four-plus innings of work.
Southern gave Farrell plenty of room to work with, staking out a 3-0 lead after three and an 8-0 advantage through six, before Savastano's solo homer broke the ice for Franklin Pierce in the top of the seventh. The Owls opened the scoring with a single run in the second as Morgan delivered an RBI single to left with one out.
SCSU took advantage of the second of Franklin Pierce's four errors on the afternoon and a wild pitch in a two-run third. Freshman Michael Diaz (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) led off with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored on a wild pitch. Ortiz, who walked and advanced to third on the wild pitch and a throwing error, scored on a ground out.
The Owls tacked on three more in the fifth, sparked by McLaughlin's two-run double that chased Fournier. He later scored on a sacrifice fly. Southern took advantage of two more Franklin Pierce errors in a two-run sixth, capped by a two-run single from Ortiz.
Franklin Pierce got on the board with Savastano's homer in the seventh, but Pagan answered with a solo shot of his own in the home half for the Owls. Olson and Duplissie hit back-to-back homers to round out the scoring for the Ravens in the eighth.